A Funny Thing Happened After the Game
by EraseAlpha
Summary: Everyone's settled into their new lives in Washington after the game. The Lalondes settled with each other in particular. Roxy deals with her love for Rose and her love for her closest friends.


Jane is your best friend and she's oven heat and funny mustaches and always so skeptical. You know everything about her.

She doesn't know everything about you.

You feel like a liar and a dirty coward.

She's stirring milk and melted chocolate and her hair is bouncing in that funny way. You're sitting on the kitchen counter staring at your feet. You need new shoelaces for your Chucks, these are grey and yucky. Maybe if you'd remember to tie them. Rose doesn't tie them either. Heh.

Your eyes drift up and Jane is buttering ramekins.

"Can we talk?"

She hums slightly and your stomach churns.

"We're best friends right? And nothing could change that?"

Jane is raising one eyebrow and the corners of her lips are tight. She places her hands on her waist.

"Well, I forgave you after you exploded my computer."

A sad chuckle escapes your lips.

"I said I was sorry about that."

"What's going on, Roxy?"

You look outside the window. Rows of identical houses greet you. You like Jane's street, it reminds you of home. Before the game, before everything.

Your mouth is dry and your throat scratchy and you're about to spill your heart. The front door opens with a crash, John and Dave walk in. John is laughing loudly and you can imagine Dave eye rolling behind the dorky shades. He stops in his tracks at the entrance of the kitchen, gaping at you.

"Hey Roxy. Sis."

You smirk at him but John is already tugging at his arm and the door is opening again; Karkat's yelling.

"It's so great you two are getting along." says Jane, bending over to place the soufflés in the oven. You check out her choice ass. "Dave was so intimidated by you at the start. Of course, Rose and Dirk hit if off right from the start, heh…"

You raise an eyebrow and bite your lip.

"What do you mean, of course?"

"Well, you know, Dirk can be a little weird and-"

There's a ball of fire growing in your stomach and your face is burning.

"Hey."

Jane shakes her head.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, but your sister _is _somewhat weird."

Jane had an easier time adapting to your post-game identities of siblings, after all, she didn't grow up knowing John as her grandfather. You lean against the wall, frowning.

"Rose is perfectly fine."

"She is."

But.

"But she can be kind of…Creepy."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh come on, Roxy."

"Leave it!"

"Why are you even getting so defensive?"

"Maybe it's because I'm sleeping with her!" you yell. Your mouth snaps shut and you glance upstairs. You can hear loud music, there's no way the boys could've heard you. The sound of Jane's laughter captures your attention and your eyes jump to her.

"Yes, okay Roxy, you are sleeping with your sister, sure. I will no longer tarnish your damsel's reputation."

Jane does a little flourish and once again bends over to check on the soufflés. You're too aghast to check out her behind.

She thinks you're kidding. You laugh weakly.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" she asks, looking at you over her shoulder.

You open and close your mouth, once, twice, three times and jump off the counter.

"Nothing, I have to go now."

You grab your coat and your car keys and you're already halfway through the door before Jane can object.

"Well then, goodbye! And you owe me a bottle of cooking sherry!"

You wave at her with your free hand as you unlock the car and get in.

You speed out her driveway and head home.

You're standing at the front door of your forest home. It's similar enough to your old house in New York; you guess that's why Rose picked it. The isolation gets to you sometimes, mostly when Rose stays over at Dirk's place in Seattle when he's out on a job and Dave has the whole apartment to himself.

You cuss when you have troubles unlocking the door, you cuss as you throw your coat and hand knitted scarf on the hangers, you cuss loudly once and fall on the couch face down. You hear footsteps coming down the hall and cuss again.

"Why aren't you at college or something?" you mutter.

You feel the weight next to your stomach and a reassuring hand between your shoulder blades, and you sigh loudly.

"Today sucked, can I just get drunk and go to bed." You say as you turn your head to look at Rose. She frowns and makes a disapproving sound.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, gotta watch my drinking."

She smirks and kisses your cheek.

"It's Saturday, Roxy. And around 12 pm."

"Of course it is."

"If you'd get a job, or perhaps go back to school, you'd probably keep better track of the days."

She's playing with your hair and you lean your head against her palm.

"What's the point, we have enough money to live large for ten fucking lifetimes and I already know everything I want to."

She chuckles.

"What happened."

She sees right through you like always. Maybe Jane's right, she's a little creepy.

"You're a little creepy." You say. She snorts and yanks at your hair. You whine a little too loudly.

"Here I am, all concerned and you insult me. My, I should just pack my bags and leave."

"There's nothing to be concerned about."

"Bullshit, my dear."

Her hand is on your forehead and you groan.

"You don't have a fever, nor do you seem particularly sick."

You twist and roll to your back, sitting up to look at Rose. Her hair is loose, she's wearing one of her old Squiddle t-shirts and-

"Oh my god, did you steal Dave's underwear again."

She suppresses a grin and looks away.

"To be fair, he stole mine first."

You grimace at the mental picture. Your eyes meet Rose's and you sigh. You run your thumb along her jawline. She smiles at you.

"I told Jane. About us."

Her eyebrows furrow and her jaw drops. You shake your head.

"She didn't believe me. She thought I was kidding."

"Oh."

There's a moment of silence and she's pulling you into a hug. You nuzzle into her neck.

"I just-"

"I know."

"She's my best friend."

"I know."

The two of you sit like that for a minute. You pull back. She grabs the nearby tissue box and wipes tears from your eyes. You didn't even realize you were crying.

"I'm scared." You mutter. She nods.

"Yeah. Me too."

She gets up.

"Hold on."

You swing your feet from the couch to the floor and watch her leave through the hall. Jaspers jumps on your lap and you scratch his ears. Mutie paws at your hair from the top of the couch.

"Did you feed the cats?" you ask. Receiving no answer, you roll your eyes and get up to check, your feline companions following. You fill up the food and water dishes and place them in the usual spot. Rose peeks out the door frame, blonde hair framing her face.

"You didn't feed the fucking cats."

"Sorry about that. Could you make hot chocolate? And maybe chips or something of the sort? Anything you'd like, really."

"Right."

She beams at you and scurries off.

You have no idea what's going on. You grab a few bags of chips from the pantry, along with dip and cookies, and begin making the hot chocolate. You don't know shit about cooking but you can somehow make hot chocolate from scratch and make it taste great.

(Usually you'd add a cup of whiskey but not only does Rose disapprove of your drinking, she's not very good at holding her liquor.)

You're stirring when you hear the shutters close. You quirk an eyebrow at Rose when she walks in smiling.

"No, seriously, what are you doing?"

"You'll see."

You roll your eyes and stick out a spoon full of hot chocolate.

"Taste this. Careful, it's hot."

She sips it carefully and smirks.

"No whiskey this time?"

"I don't want to hold your hair over the toilet again. I thought you'd be happy at my self-restraint."

She pats your upper arm.

"I'm very proud of you."

"My life is fulfilled."

"Also, the hot chocolate is delicious."

She gets on her tiptoes to kiss you on the jaw and you smile. She begins walking backwards towards the door.

"I have to go do what I was doing."

"Right. That thing you are doing."

"Yes. The thing."

"The thing you're not telling me about."

"It's a very important, secret thing."

"I see."

Her shoulder bumps into the door frame and she turns around, walking away.

You absent-mindedly continue stirring the chocolate.

You pour it into the biggest mugs you can find (they're kitty themed!) and add a ton of marshmallows to yours, a drop of mint extract and dark chocolate syrup on Rose's.

You place it on a tray with the chips and cookies and try to leave the kitchen, but Rose appears in front of you.

"I'm not ready yet."

"Ready for what."

"Can you just stay in the kitchen?"

She giggles and closes the door on your face. You're left standing with a tray of goodies.

"I'm going to spit in your mug." You say.

You're pushed into the living room, which seems to be drowning in blankets and pillows. There's a fort over the couch and the TV is on. At least ten DVD boxes litter the coffee table and your SNES has been fished from the deeps of your closet and plugged in. Rose comes from behind you with the tray.

"I reheated the chocolate; I apologize for the long wait with the construction."

"We're too old for pillow forts."

"That hasn't stopped _you_ before."

You stare at her and she smiles innocently. Well, about as innocently as Rose can.

"You weren't feeling very well and it's _partly_ my fault, so I thought this would cheer you up. I'm being thoughtful."

"You are."

You smirk, take the tray away from her and bend over to kiss her, deep and passionate. You pull away and she's smiling calmly with her eyes closed. You notice the way her hair is mussed and the faint marks bellow her eyes from many nights staying up late. You sigh loudly.

"A-hem."

"Oh, yeah?" you say, startled.

"Do you want to start with Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings? Maybe some videogames before we're too tired?"

"Gonna kick your ass at Street Fighter, hells to the yeah!"

"Oh yes, after I went through all of this trouble to make you feel better and you want to start by making me needlessly frustrated."

"Fine, we can play Battletoads."

"Oh, screw you, Roxy, you know I die every other minute at that game."

You're both laughing as you plop down on the couch and cover yourselves with blankets and pillows, controllers already in hand.

It's around 7 pm. Rose is leaning against you as the Order of the Phoenix plays. Her breath is warm on your neck and your arm is wrapped around her shoulders. She's texting something on her phone.

"Dave is staying over at John's. Are you up for the 45 minute drive to Seattle, we can have lunch with Dirk tomorrow."

She looks up at you and you scowl.

"You can talk with Jane. Explain this to her. And actually explaining, not blurting out things in the heat of the moment."

"And you?"

"I won't mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

It's a crisp Fall morning. You're parked outside Jane's, hands shoved deep in the pockets of your hoodie and your scarf is wrapped around your face. Rose nods off in the passenger seat.

Dave comes out, cussing out Washington weather and making loud remarks about wanting to move back to Texas. John yells at him. Karkat looks like he's about to flop over and fall asleep as he stands next to Jane's dad at the door. Jane is also at the door and she waves at you. You look inside the car at Rose. Curious violet eyes obverse you.

Little shit wasn't even sleeping.

You walk up as Dave walks down and hand him the keys.

"Hey Jane. Can we talk?"

"How long…?"

"A while."

"A while as in…"

"Not before she turned eighteen."

"Oh."

You're in Jane's room. You're sitting on her bed and she's pacing around. A moment of silence passes.

"Jane…"

"This is quite something to process, Roxy."

"I know, I just…Do you hate me?"

Jane stops on her tracks and her jaw drops.

"Of course not. Roxy, I…Are you happy?"

You laugh.

"Yes."

"Then I'm happy for you and I wish you the best."

She looks away.

"And I'm terribly sorry over not believing you."

You get up and hug her.

The car seats are heated and Dave has long since fallen asleep in the back when you finally get inside the car and start it. Rose's eyes are closed. You poke Dave in the ribs. He snores loudly, his shades askew and his shirt riding up.

"I told her."

Rose nods and opens an eye. You smile reassuringly. You can see her smile behind the scarf.

You pull out of Jane's driveway and head out, a smile on your face. You have Rose, your best friend doesn't hate you for your relationship with her and you're just about to see one of your other best friends. You wonder when Jake is coming home from his latest adventure, you're sure Rose would like to see Jade and you haven't even spoken to him, damn Amazonian forest-

"Roxy."

"Yeah?"

Rose sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose.

"You're going the wrong way."

"Oh goddammit."


End file.
